47: Sexuality and Politics

Paisley Currah, Brooklyn College, CUNY, pcurrah@gmail.com

In keeping with the 2010 meeting theme, "The Politics of Hard Times,” the section invites proposals that explore how sexuality can become a pressure point in times of political, economic, and social dislocation. For example: sexuality and “moral panics”; the homosexual and transgender panic defenses; the politics of “sexual rights” in the U.S., internationally, or in comparative context; the state policing of gender definition; state regulation of reproduction. We especially welcome proposals that examine sexuality as an intersectional object of power relations vis-à-vis race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, class, and (dis)ability. In addition to this year’s theme, we welcome proposals from all fields of political science that will contribute new empirical or theoretical insights to the study of sexuality and politics, defined broadly. In general, and in keeping with the section’s mission, the section fosters scholarship on any intersection of sexuality—including heterosexuality and bisexuality—and power. Research on transgender politics is also welcome. Both panel and individual paper proposals are invited, but individual paper proposals are generally easier to accommodate.